Last Friday New York Times Magazine editor Hugo Lindgren posted a list of “words we don’t say” to the magazine’s 6th Floor blog. The list was a leftover from former New York editor Kurt Andersen—he had left it tacked to the office bulletin board back in 1997—and contains words and phrases he felt were hackneyed, over-used, or, in Lindgren’s words, “phoney-baloney.” Fourteen years later, Lindgren says the list is still pretty useful as a guide to what should be cut from any decent magazine story. We agree.
There’s “boast” (meaning have), “graced,” “flicks,” “penned”, “sport” (as a verb), “comely,” “celeb”, “New York’s finest,” “indie” (with an exception for indie rock), “duo,” “eponymous,” and a slew of others. (Should we add “slew” to the list?). And there’s a nice dart to those hoity-toity pre-Millenium types who overused the Frenchified “fin de siècle.”
Today we’re asking what words should be added to that list. What stale and lazy words and phrases would you like your favorite news sources to kick to the curb send packing give the flick banish? And who are the worst offenders? (Feel free to include CJR.)
"transparency"
"strongman" (for a foreign politician that the U.S. doesn't like)
"cutting edge"
"World Wide Web"
#1 Posted by Reading Out There, CJR on Tue 24 May 2011 at 01:48 PM
"Game changer."
#2 Posted by Here Come the Innovators!, CJR on Tue 24 May 2011 at 02:07 PM
"robust," "love child," "illegitimate," "adult conversation" (when used "ironically" by political morons) and, please God, "iconic."
It's Bob Dylan's birthday, so that last one is OK - this day only.
sdaley
#3 Posted by steve Daley, CJR on Tue 24 May 2011 at 02:44 PM
"Paradigm". PLEASE let this word die a horrible death.
#4 Posted by Carol Ott, CJR on Tue 24 May 2011 at 04:13 PM
canoodling
#5 Posted by Amy K. , CJR on Wed 25 May 2011 at 12:01 AM
Any traffic reference: Crossroads, juncture, intersection, turning point.
#6 Posted by Justin, CJR on Wed 25 May 2011 at 07:53 AM
-gate
#7 Posted by arturner, CJR on Wed 25 May 2011 at 08:22 AM
"Brutal murder," "savage beating," "vicious attack," "deadly tornado," "destructive tornado."
#8 Posted by Luis L., CJR on Wed 25 May 2011 at 10:23 AM
"Bete noire" gets thrown around a lot lately; I'm not sure when that trend started. Although - I just looked it up - it is also the term for a certain kind of "rich, flourless chocolate cake." That one's okay by me.
#9 Posted by Lauren Kirchner, CJR on Wed 25 May 2011 at 10:25 AM
I’m with Susan Orlean on "mom jeans.” Writes Orlean:
"Unfortunately, I feel mortified when I hear the term because I am a mom, or—as I prefer to say—I have a child. Are there 'I-have-a-child jeans'? Then again, I have a child but I wear tight, low jeans. How about President Obama jeans? I know using 'mother' as a substitute in some instances would sound a little Victorian (imagine signing up for a Mother-and-Child Gymboree class!) but it sounds so much more respectful. It would defeat the implied insult in a phrase like 'mom jeans'—'mother jeans' sound sober and functional rather than dorky and sad. 'Soccer mothers' sound scary, actually.
Language really can be amazing."
"Mother jeans" from now on.
#10 Posted by Liz Cox Barrett, CJR on Wed 25 May 2011 at 11:33 AM
I'm really tired of the expression 'at the end of the day' by now. And 'street smarts' marks the writer as an urban provincial. In fact, any lazy use of 'smarts' to mean intelligence.
#11 Posted by Mark Richard, CJR on Wed 25 May 2011 at 05:31 PM
Endeavor. Persevere (with apologies to Chief Dan George).Remarkable Comback...
#12 Posted by Mike Suttles, CJR on Wed 25 May 2011 at 06:42 PM
"Regime"
This is a heavily loaded term. Otherwise we would talk about the regime in London or Tokyo or Brasilia. But we don't. It's the regime in Havana or Tehran that we hear about.
This is understandable if sleazy when government officials denigrate other governments they don't like. It's inexcusable when journalists use the term.
It's loaded and biased and, outside of direct quotes, should be banished for a journalist's vocabulary.
And for extra credit:
"Absolutely."
As in, "David, that really was a big tornado."
"Absolutely, Buzz."
#13 Posted by ArtCee, CJR on Wed 25 May 2011 at 09:16 PM
"Going forward," as in increasingly, in the temporal sense, seems to be finding its way into "serious" reporting. Aargh!!
"Substantive" in place of "substantial."
#14 Posted by M.D. Champ, CJR on Sat 28 May 2011 at 03:42 AM
For starters,
In a bi-partisan manner; the other side (and 'both sides') of the aisle;
Moms [Dads]; Kids; Cops (Ed Koch has much to answer for) ; F-word and N-word [and their numerous '-word' varieties] (Let's put the blame on Carol Kane for this one);
Every other word from the pens and of out of the mouths of sports reporters, especially baseball [basketball, etc.] annuncers.
#15 Posted by Ron Moss, CJR on Sat 28 May 2011 at 08:08 AM
For starters,
In a bi-partisan manner; the other side (and 'both sides') of the aisle;
Moms [Dads]; Kids; Cops (Ed Koch has much to answer for) ; F-word and N-word [and their numerous '-word' varieties] (Let's put the blame on Carol Kane for this one);
Every other word from the pens and of out of the mouths of sports reporters, especially baseball [basketball, etc.] annuncers.
#16 Posted by Ron Moss, CJR on Sat 28 May 2011 at 08:13 AM
Using the phrase "to be honest" to preface any response to a question suggests that when this preface is omitted the answer is dishonest.
#17 Posted by ed franks, CJR on Sat 28 May 2011 at 04:30 PM
The same regarding the phrase "to be honest" applies to the phrase "quite frankly!"
#18 Posted by ed franks, CJR on Sat 28 May 2011 at 04:33 PM
"Mom" instead of "mother" has become the increasing norm in media usage.
#19 Posted by Ed Hula, CJR on Tue 31 May 2011 at 05:07 PM
"Lawmaker" - banish forever. TOTAL claptrap journalese, a word only spoken (or written) in media, not by regular people.
#20 Posted by Ed Hula, CJR on Tue 31 May 2011 at 05:12 PM
Tipping point.
Going forward.
Bloviate.
Underwater,
Impact as a verb.
Walking something back.
Throwing people under the bus.
Not SICing childish Republican misuse of the word Democrat.
#21 Posted by David Benson, CJR on Tue 31 May 2011 at 07:27 PM
"in the coming days and weeks" or "the coming weeks and months"
Really?
Also "Really?"
#22 Posted by Dov Jacobson, CJR on Thu 2 Jun 2011 at 03:28 AM
Hit the ground running.
#23 Posted by Jim Smith, CJR on Fri 3 Jun 2011 at 03:58 PM
"tipping point" as in ebooks at a tipping point "cloud" As in remote computing. and "dedicated ereaders"
#24 Posted by TimothywMurray, CJR on Sun 5 Jun 2011 at 05:08 PM
Systemic, impact (as a verb), synergy, iconic, going forward, currently, new record, perfect storm, sort of/kind of, bottom line, at the end of the day, under the radar, pushing the envelope, moving the needle, on the same page, fortuitous (it doesn't mean fortunate), close proximity, landscape, silo, granular, brand, and grow (in non-farming or -ranching contexts), DNA, mindsets, and eyeballs (in non-biological contexts)
#25 Posted by Jerry Kavanagh, CJR on Sun 5 Jun 2011 at 05:57 PM
Can we take a deep breath and do away with "sigh of relief," especially when it's exhaled by an entire community? One sigh by everybody in town would be a pretty big blow. Also banish the useless intro, "Let's face it.." And for the next snow season, please resist "the winter of our discontent." Original when W. Shakespeare wrote it, but he wasn't referring to the weather.
#26 Posted by Sibby Christensen, CJR on Sun 5 Jun 2011 at 08:56 PM
ITERATION & SEMINAL
#27 Posted by ZEKEBUDD, CJR on Mon 6 Jun 2011 at 11:56 AM
closure!
#28 Posted by beth, CJR on Mon 6 Jun 2011 at 01:22 PM
For some reason I really hate "tapped" for "chosen" or "selected."
#29 Posted by Molly, CJR on Mon 6 Jun 2011 at 09:39 PM
Strike 'desert' from Sahara. 'Sahara' means desert in Arabic.
But desert OK with Gobi, Kalahari, etc.
#30 Posted by Ted G, CJR on Tue 7 Jun 2011 at 10:40 AM
Alright for "all right"
At this (particular) point in time
amongst
basically
center around
grow the economy
put in place
in point of fact
the fact of the matter
helm for "lead" or "head"
In general, the death of the adverbial ending "-ly"
badly
That god of a (and variations)
new innovations
misuses of "unique"
#31 Posted by H. S. Rockwood (CJR Subscriber), CJR on Tue 7 Jun 2011 at 12:23 PM
The American people. How about just Americans?
#32 Posted by A.D., CJR on Wed 8 Jun 2011 at 03:21 PM
sarah palin, steve jobs, "new apple product."
Enough already!
#33 Posted by Phil Acknell, CJR on Wed 8 Jun 2011 at 06:45 PM
"The fact of the matter is...! And even "The fact is..."
#34 Posted by Elroy, CJR on Thu 9 Jun 2011 at 01:27 AM
This should be a continuing conversation. Here are some thoughts.
When labor unions negotiate for benefits, why are they called "demands"? When thier employers negotiate why are they called "concessions"?
Why are stay at home mothers not considered "not working" but if they hire a nanny to do the same work the nanny is?
Why was the stock market disaster in 1929, a "crash", while the current state is a "meltdown". Was the stockmarket a cake that sagged?
What is a "walkback" of a statement? Is it an admission of error of facts or a poor way of stating the facts? One would wonder if facts are, to date myself, "Good for this train and time only".
Finally, let's look into the idea of "homelessness". Since to have a home one must have a house, a better terms would be "houselessness".
#35 Posted by David Reno, CJR on Thu 9 Jun 2011 at 12:02 PM
"loved ones"
"space" -- as in, "the digital space" or "the digital marketing space"
#36 Posted by Barbara Selvin, CJR on Fri 10 Jun 2011 at 12:20 PM
How about "Family Values?" Haven't we sufficiently demonstrated they are a flexible list?
And how about "The fact that?"
#37 Posted by Peter Ciancone, CJR on Fri 10 Jun 2011 at 02:27 PM
How about "because of the simple fact" or "due to the simple fact", and "It is what it is" is not what it is anymore, and "groupthink" needs to get "voted off the island" (like "voted off ___" needs to get voted off the planet, banished), but can we all just agree to no longer "think out of the box"? After all "back in the day" there was some reason for the box in the first place, wasn't there?? Whoever came up with the box clearly got voted off the island
#38 Posted by marc clark, CJR on Fri 10 Jun 2011 at 10:16 PM
My top three candidates to banish:
"Mom", as in "soccer mom", "I'm a mom", "stay-at-home mom", "As a mom....", and, gaaaggh, "single mom". "Mom" has taken "mother" and/or "parent" and turned her into a cloyingly precious mix of mannequin and doormat.
"Impact" as a verb (seconding another commenter above). Fingernails-on-chalkboard annoying to me. Instantly marks speaker as someone trying to sound intelligent by relying on the false gravitas of 10-gallon-words, while failing miserably by misusing most of them.
"Throwing [someone] under the bus". What bus? And at this point, is there anyone left who *isn't* under some bus?
extra credit:
"Parenting". Since when is parenting a verb? Seems like ever since people have been "parenting" we have spoiled children given full control over the most minute choices in their lives starting from about age 2 ("what would you like for breakfast, sweetie? What are you going to wear today?") and yet completely unable to function as self-realized adults until well near the 30 mark. Seems things were better when people focused on "raising children" rather than "parenting".
#39 Posted by Leticia, CJR on Sat 11 Jun 2011 at 08:29 PM
"Churn."
Every hurricane in history has, at one point or another, "churned toward the coast."
#40 Posted by pjcamp, CJR on Sun 12 Jun 2011 at 03:18 PM
Siblings.
To drink the Kool-Aid.
Knee-jerk use of "community," as in "homeless community," "intelligence community," "terrorist community."
#41 Posted by MH, CJR on Mon 20 Jun 2011 at 10:01 PM
And please please please: politically correct.
#42 Posted by MH, CJR on Tue 21 Jun 2011 at 06:12 PM
the ironic "um," as in "Henry Clay couldn't have fought int he Civil War because he was, um, dead nine years when it started."
#43 Posted by Cliff Barney, CJR on Wed 20 Jul 2011 at 12:48 AM
spur (as a verb)
fuel (as a verb)
bolster
robust
If I never hear about something "spurring" something else, "fueling" anything besides something with a gas tank, being "robust" instead of strong or meaningful and "bolstering" anything for the rest of my life I will die content.
#44 Posted by Capitalism is a Vampire, CJR on Mon 11 Jun 2012 at 06:25 PM